The advent of light emitting diode (LED) technologies has enhanced lighting capabilities to a point where vehicle based lights are becoming more effective as visual signals during emergencies and hazardous situations. Emergency services, law enforcement agencies, traffic control, and other government agencies have recognized this fact and added separate strobe lighting systems to their vehicles. These systems are added on to what would otherwise be a factory stock lighting setup and operate using a wiring and switch platform that is independent from the traditional hazard light circuit. Foreign and domestic auto manufacturers often use blinker switches based on decades-old technology in order to make automobile blinkers and hazard emergency lights blink or flash. Even where newer microcontrollers are used, they effect only the well-known signal and hazard flasher operations of decades past.
A problem with existing systems and modes of operation with respect to emergency flashers is that a double blinker flashing during an emergency, on a roadside for example, is insufficiently visible and does not provide a high level of clear visual communication to other drivers that a safety hazard exists. Many citizens are killed each year while using their flashing hazard lights during emergency situations on the road. Flashing or double blinking emergency lights are nowhere near as effective as strobing hazard lights.
Another problem with existing emergency flashers is that they are not always deployed when a genuine emergency exists. Occupants may be injured or otherwise unable to deploy the emergency flashers when they are needed most. A disabled vehicle on a roadway is a hazard to other vehicles and all vehicle occupants. In other cases, a vehicle may be off the roadway such that further collision danger is minimal. Nevertheless, hazard lights can be critical in quickly locating vehicles that have left the roadway either purposefully (e.g., to leave the flow of traffic) or as the result of an accident.
Laws related to strobing lights on vehicles address emergency or law enforcement related vehicles. For example, there are laws for emergency and police vehicles reserving a combination of strobing colors on top of vehicles, or in a light bar, or mounted elsewhere. These laws reinforce the belief that strobing lights are significantly more effective during vehicle emergencies due to their higher visibility, attention grabbing attributes, and ability to provide useful visual information and direction to others.
With the increasing use of cell phones and text messaging (while operating a vehicle) becoming more of a safety problem, a need exists to enhance a citizen's emergency visual communication abilities when on the side of the road and without getting out of their vehicle. A need also exists for an automated visual emergency communication system to enhance a citizen's ability to automatically signal to others during emergency situations when the operator is unable to activate such a visual communication signal system on his or her own.
What is needed is a system and method for addressing the above, and related, issues.